Islamic Law and the Qajar Society

A lecture by:

Nobuaki Kondo, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies

The studies on Qajar Iran did not pay much attention to Islamic law. The Western-inspired Qajar intellectuals sought to establish modern secular law (qanun), but rarely discussed shari‘a. However, the Iranian civil law of 1928–36, which included many elements from Islamic law, indicates that the law provided a basic infrastructure for society. Based on the
shari‘a court records and documents from Qajar Iran, Kondo will argue the practical aspects of shari’a in Qajar society. He will also explain how the Qajar Shari’a courts were different from their Ottoman counterparts, which have been well-studied and well-documented.